Chapter 254: Fight On And Press On!
The smaller the sphere shrank, the stronger the elemental earth became. If this continued for even a minute longer, Bai Yunfei would surely be squished to death!
Satisfaction slowly made its way into the middle-aged man’s eyes as he watched the sphere shrink in size. In a few more breaths, Bai Yunfei would be nothing more than a pile of broken flesh.
Looking back up, the man realized that the azure bird had ended up at a disadvantage while he had been focused on taking care of Bai Yunfei.
“Hm… that youngster has a soul contract with an early-stage fifth-tier soulbeast… who would’ve thought? If I turn it into a puppet, my strength will increase again!” Since Bai Yunfei and the quickshade bird appeared at the same time, the man had mistaken Bai Yunfei as the one with the soul contract with the bird.
Excited, the man’s eyes slid back to where Song Lin and Jiang Fan were fighting. With how injured the two of them were, the battle would most likely persist another ten minutes before it was over.
“As soon as that kid dies, that soulbeast of his will get weaker too. I’ll take the opportunity and capture it… that Soul Exalt is pretty nervous. That must mean more people are bound to come. We can’t stay here then!!”
“Eh?” Something caused the man to snap out of his thoughts. Looking up at the sphere, which had already compressed to roughly two meters in radius, the man had a suspicious look on his face.
The sphere that had been shrinking at a gradual rate up to this point had… somehow stopped shrinking!
“What’s this? With how much elemental earth I put into there, that kid should’ve been powerless…” The man questioned, but then, his eyes grew wide as a look of shock appeared on his face next.
“Boom!!!”
An explosion rocked the plains as the earthen sphere was shattered. A torrent of fire exploded forth from the interior, burning the python wrapped around it. Unable to withstand the heat of the flames, the python released itself from the sphere and slithered back down to the side.
Bai Yunfei came stepping out of the fire with his spear in hand and not a single injury to be seen!
Right by his side was a levitating object covered in an orange light. There was an orange-colored energy that surrounded his being as if protecting him; it was the lifebound armament of Bai Yunfei, the Cataclysmic Seal!
When he had been trapped in the sphere, Bai Yunfei whipped out the Cataclysmic Seal and activated its +12 effect to protect himself.
+12 Additional Effect: In exchange for soulforce, summon a shield made of the earth element. The more soulforce used, the stronger the shield. The total defense of the shield cannot exceed the attack of the weapon.
(ineffective against mind-based attacks).
It was a first for Bai Yunfei to be trapped in such a manner, so he found it prudent to study his surroundings when it started to shrink in on him. When the sphere was about to touch Bai Yunfei’s barrier, he knew that it wouldn’t be able to shrink anymore. Bai Yunfei had a good understanding of what the man was trying to attempt.
Therefore, Bai Yunfei decided to launch his counterattack without further ado.
Breaking out of the sphere was a result of the +10 effect of the Fire-tipped Spear, an explosion!
Since this was the very first time Bai Yunfei had used the spear after it had been upgraded in an actual battle, the resulting explosion had been completely unexpected to Bai Yunfei. The power was in fact several times greater than before!
Walking out of the flames, Bai Yunfei cast a glance over his enemy a hundred meters away. Before the man could react, Bai Yunfei flew into motion and charged like an arrow straight for him!
“Im—impossible!!”
It was only when Bai Yunfei was right in front of him that the man snapped back to reality. This time, he really was shocked and at a loss for words. This move of his was enough to kill a mid-stage Soul Ancestor without a problem; even a late-stage Soul Ancestor would find it difficult to escape, but somehow, this early-stage Soul Ancestor managed to do it with ease!!
By now, the man was doubtful that Bai Yunfei really was just an early-stage Soul Ancestor and not someone hiding his true strength. Letting his soulsense wash over Bai Yunfei, the man reconfirmed that Bai Yunfei really was just an early-stage Soul Ancestor. If he had to guess, Bai Yunfei’s strange spear was the reason he had been able to escape from the sphere.
In truth, the man was right.
After his shock subsided, the man began to take several panicked steps back. Waving his right hand, he had the still hissing python leap forward to stop Bai Yunfei.
Stabbing its tail into the ground, the python then dislodged the surrounding area and lifted a five-meter-wide piece of stone covered in an orange light into the air to squash Bai Yunfei with.
The Fire-tipped Spear had a twenty second cooldown, and it had only been ten seconds since Bai Yunfei broke out of his confines. Registering the stone coming at him, Bai Yunfei swapped the Fire-tipped Spear into his left hand and brought his right arm in front of him. In a flash of red light, a three-meter-long blade of fire materialized out of thin air, the Flame Winged Blade!
It flew forward with reckless speed before slicing into the giant stone, cutting it in half!
“Whoosh!”
Like tofu, the boulder was split into two large chunks of stone before falling back to the ground with deafening thuds!
Bai Yunfei dismissed the blade with a wave of his right hand before glaring at the python as it brought its tail up to whip him again!
“Again!?” Bai Yunfei snorted. With a thought, the Cataclysmic Seal next to him shuddered once before a protective barrier erected itself around Bai Yunfei with him at its center.
“Pow!” There was a cracking sound when the tail slammed into the earthen barrier, but other than a ripple across the surface, the barrier was completely intact!!
“F*ck off!!” A brilliant gleam sparked into life in Bai Yunfei’s eye as he clenched his right fist. Priming his arm and Ardent Sun Glove with soulforce, Bai Yunfei let loose a burning punch into the python’s tail without any hesitation!
Ninefold Fist Force!!
“Bang!!”
The python had a tail that was as thick as Bai Yunfei’s thigh, but when Bai Yunfei’s fist slammed into it, the tail had been sent flying to the side!!
Though he had gotten rid of the tail, the jaw of the python came bounding forward to try and swallow Bai Yunfei whole once again!
Raising an eyebrow at this, Bai Yunfei decided not to use the barrier to protect himself. Instead, he flashed forward in a series of hazy after-images. He streaked past the python’s jaw and reappeared right below its head!
This spot was the most dangerous spot to be in since the python could wrap itself around Bai Yunfei in seconds. Though Bai Yunfei hadn’t the strength for a guaranteed kill, he had a plan ready.
Once again, the Fire-tipped Spear was back in his left hand and the Cataclysmic Seal was in his hand as well. In a flash of light, the brick returned to its normal mode before it was used to slam itself into the python’s neck!
Threefold Slap!
“Bang.”
The resulting sound wasn’t too loud and didn’t look particularly strong, but Bai Yunfei wasn’t looking for a powerful attack.
Instead, he was looking for...
A sliver of soulforce bled into the brick, prompting Bai Yunfei’s lips to curl into a grin. At first, the python’s head rose, but the second after that, its entire body was thrown even farther away!
The +13 hurling effect of the brick had been activated!!
This was the might of an additional effect of an upgraded equipment. It didn’t matter how big you were. As long as the effect was activated, you’d be sent flying!!
Now that the python had been sent flying away, Bai Yunfei disregarded it and returned the Fire-tipped Spear to his right hand as he continued on toward the still retreating beast tamer.
The man was already shocked from what he saw, but with the events right now, he was unable to even hold back his fear!
Breaking free from the sphere, splitting the boulder, blocking the tail, punching away the tail, his strange movements, and then ultimately sending the python flying!!
Each and every single action was completely beyond what the man knew an ‘early-stage Soul Ancestor’ could even do, so only a single word came to mind to describe this sight.
Impossible!!!!
No matter how shocked he was, the reality in front of him was still there. Bai Yunfei’s forward motion only prompted the man to run back even faster, but the distance between the two was already closing at a quickening pace!